Ganoub El-Wadi Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope) is targeting to invest $58m in oil exploration and research in the South Valley region, Upper Egypt during the 2014/2015 fiscal year, Chairman of Ganope Mostafa Safwat announced on Sunday. Safwat added that his firm is planning to produce 31,500 barrels of oil per day during that period from the South Valley oil fields, which are supervised by Ganope, a Sunday statement from Ministry of Petroleum said. These statements were made during a Sunday visit to the oil fields in Aswan, led by Minister of Petroleum Sherif Ismail and attended by Safwat and Governor of Aswan Mostafa Yousri. "The petroleum sector has determined a list of priorities and strategies to be implemented during the coming period," Ismail said, adding that attracting foreign investments tops that list. Ismail added that Ganope will issue an international tender for oil exploration in April. Ganope is currently preparing to sign four oil agreements with $144m in investments, according to the statement. The company has signed a total number of 22 agreements since its establishment, with $541m in investments. Safwat highlighted that the total value of investments in the Kom Ombo region in Aswan reached $92m, with around 400 barrels being produced per day. In December, the Ministry of Petroleum signed a $22.5m agreement in oil and gas exploration fields in Gulf of Suez. This was a part of 21 oil agreements, Ismail said in November. According to Ismail, the 21 agreements, the first to be made since 2010, will boost investments in oil research and exploration field in order to increase production and reserves of oil and natural gas. In an attempt to compensate for the lost supply of Egyptian oil, BG group has bought six liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments from Italian utility Enel, Reuters reported on 20 February. The company had warned a month earlier that Egypt's turmoil would affect its production currently and in the coming years. BG was not able to meet export obligations for an Egyptian LNG project, as "the Egyptian government had not honoured agreements covering BG's share of gas from fields, with a high level of gas being diverted to the domestic market," according to Reuters. In the 2012/2013 fiscal year, about 24.1% of total investments in Egypt were directed towards the oil and gas sector, according to a report issued by the Ministry of Planning in October.
